Flag Feeding Frenzy Comeuppance *Open Thread*

As some of you may know, President Obama, Vice President Biden, and former Secretary Hillary Clinton, all descended upon Charleston to attend the funeral of State Senator Clementa Pinckney as he was lead to rest. President Obama gave the eulogy for Sen. Pinckney.

Well, except “eulogy” isn’t exactly what many of us would call what Obama said. Oh, he did talk about what a great man Pinckney was, gave some history about him, and told of his accomplishments, this man gunned down by a crazed racist while presiding over a prayer meeting. Pinckney, as I have noted before, was beloved on both sides of the aisle, and was a true representative of the people.

But Obama didn’t stop there. I am sure it will come as no shock to any of you that, in the midst of this funeral, Obama focused on politics and his ideology. I can tell you that, as a minister, a FUNERAL is the last place for politics. So is a CHURCH, for that matter. Specifically, Obama spoke about GUN control, the Confederate Flag, and racism.

Regardless, for Obama to bring this issue up during a funeral is poor form, bad taste, unseemly, and just rude. We don’t cotton to rude behavior in these here parts, I might add. That he also used his fake Southern accent while he was here added insult to injury as far as I am concerned.

To make matters worse, Obama seems to think he speaks for God (h/t Facebook friend). Newsflash to President Obama: you are not the Pope, sir, or even an ordained clergy member. WOW. Talk about hubris – claiming to speak for God is WAAAYYYYY up there, if you ask me.

But since President Obama brought up the Confederate flag in SC at Pinckney’s funeral, I want to share a post going around Facebook that is spot on, though the author, Temple Trueblood, also seems to labor under the misguided impression that the Confederate flag flies over the Statehouse, at least South Carolina’s (which I am leaving out simply for space, but feel free to read the entire post HERE). With that said, here is Trueblood’s post on the brouhaha surrounding the Confederate Flag:

I’m a Southerner. I’m a civil rights lawyer. I’ve stayed out of this fray and, to be honest, I’m really tired of the whole media frenzy. With that said–taking out soapbox…pontificating….

The media did not get what it wanted from the South as a result of the Charleston tragedy. The good people of Charleston did not riot, did not engage in hateful shenanigans and did not provide the racist fueled fodder for their 24 hour-a-day headlines. Poor, poor media–no Ferguson, no Trayvon Martin, no Oscar Grants. Instead, the good people of Charleston and of South Carolina unified and came together–all races, all creeds. They marched hand in hand to pay respect to the poor souls lost and to strengthen their community. In short–they did what Southerners do. They put their faith forward and did the right thing ‘cause their mommas raised them right.

So, what are they left to do? Well, the Confederate flag seems like a fine substitute–and it worked…

[…]

But (you knew there would be a “but,” right?), if an individual wants to own, fly, wear, burn, or otherwise have emblazoned on them a tattoo of the Confederate flag then Hell–knock yourself out. It’s not my place (or anyone else’s) to tell you that you can’t do that. Are all people who display or own a Confederate flag racist? No. Are there racists who display and own Confederate flags. Yes. Can it be offensive? Yes. Does that mean that all Confederate flags are to be banned or wiped out? Well, of course not. This is America…remember?

And get this–once again, the South did not give the media machine what it wanted. South Carolina removed the flag, followed almost immediately by Alabama….ALABAMA, people! But are the media mongers gushing over the progressive character of these moves…no. Now they are calling for the removal of the flag from the General Lee….dude, it’s the Dukes of Hazzard…a show that stopped running, oh, THIRTY years ago. Ok…whatever. But then they are calling for historical monuments related to the Civil War to be removed. This is called rewriting history. This is bad….ask Ray Bradbury (and if you don’t know what I’m talking about read Fahrenheit 451). I won’t even launch into that, but you get my gist. Should the Lincoln Memorial be destroyed? Should the hundreds of Civil War monuments spread across this nation honoring the tens of thousand who died (on both sides) be eradicated? Of course not.

Look, there are plenty of things that people do and that are part of the mainstream American life that offend me to my core (Kardashians, anyone?) but that doesn’t mean they should be obliterated. I find it personally reprehensible and offensive to my very being when I see people burn the American flag, stomp on the American flag, rip up the American flag, toss the American flag in the garbage, or even wear it in some version of cut off shorts barely covering their hoo-ha. But, do they have a right to do all of those things? Yes. Does every person who owns or reads a Quran follow extreme Islam and plot the death of all Infidels (that’s you and me, by the way…)? No. Are there Islamic extremists who do plot and carry out the death to all Infidels who own and read the Quran? You betcha’. Again, does that mean that all vestiges of Islam should be eradicated from the United States. Um, no. There are plenty of music lyrics (rap, metal and pop) that as a woman I find personally degrading, threatening and flat out inhuman misogyny. Do I think that every single person that listens to this music, owns it or blares it at 11 million decibels in traffic treats all women as subhuman or wants to rape, kill and murder me? No. Are there some people out there who do view women as subhuman who listen to this stuff? Sure. Again, does that mean it should all be banned, the musicians locked away and all vestiges of their existence erased? Please.

So, as you are jumping on the current media-hyped-frenzied band wagon just stop and think…for yourself. For like a second. Use some common sense. Don’t be a cog in the machine and help them create an even bigger division in this nation than they already have. […] (Click here to read the rest.)

And while the idiots and pundidiots were having their hissy fit about a 150 year old flag there was little mention of the ISIS barbarian that helped behead someone and then took a “selfie” of himself with the head. Now that’s something to be outraged about. An old flag, that was about state’s rights NOT slavery, not so much.

You ain’t only kidding, Marge. That’s just it – they focus on things like this, a flag flying at a monument, but not on the BIG issues facing us. It is just ginned up angst all the time. It is tiresome as hell. When are we going to have some sober, serious, deliberative people running this country?!

Seriously I wonder if we ever will be “represented”. Look at what the GOP have done to us about the damn “trade” bill – a bill that has back door immigration written in. Ted Cruz was honorable enough to back out once that was put in. Paul Ryan? Not so much. And McConnell is just a slicker version of Harry Reid. Or a saner version.

And let us never forget that Chief Justice Roberts was Bush’s choice. Didn’t work out so well did it?

Wonderful post, Cuz! I did not know that Rev. Pinkney voted to have the flag flown…hmmm…who’s wants to tell MSNBC? 🙂
If there is an upside at all to Obama’s hubris on Friday (and MOST days of the week, actually!) it is that I believe he will now start making even MORE noticeable gaffs, because he is getting much more cocky (who knew that was possible??) I don’t know—we’ll see. But, this is when even the most protected of naked Emperors seems to fall apart: when cocky goes off the charts.
A friend of mine has a blog for transgendered and most of the comments have been scathing re: Obama’s comments at the WH last week chastising an unhappy transgendered immigrant (“Hey you’re in MY House now……eating my hors d’oeuvres” etc)
And yes, I know the libs and media will give him incredible cover, but for how much longer as he gets more hubristic ( a word??) …I just remember that NO one thought Nixon could be brought down…
Thanks again for the great post!

Thanks, Cuz’n! Yeah, it is amazing what can happen when “news” outlets and political provocateurs don’t bother to look at some history. But at this point, the hysteria surrounding the flag is such that I doubt it would even matter to them. You know, why bring facts into a situation, right?

Oh, my – I shudder to think of Obama becoming even COCKIER. That is a disturbing thought on so many levels, isn’t it? But you make a great point abt him and his gaffes. Maybe, just maybe, he will be called on them for a change.

I had two big problems with that whole transgendered exchange: that Obama claimed it was HIS house – no, it is OUR house; and that the transgendered heckler was an ILLEGAL ALIEN. WTH?? How does someone who is in the country illegally even gain entrance to the White House?! That is just astonishing, isn’t it?

Yes, the fact that he was ILLEGAL was amazing….but I think that upset the transgendered community ( here in Texas) even more ….because of Obama’s “welcome with open arms..and ask questions later, if at all” policy when it comes to illegals. But, apparently, they can come into the WH illegally, but they can’t nag or embarrass Barack…LOL…OOPS! There are SO many freakin;’ rules…LOL! Caramba!!

I like that this piece skewers the “Know Betters” on both the left and the right.

Meet the ‘Know-Betters,’ America’s Not-So-Secret Political Party Squeezing the Life Out of You

You may have spotted some of these Know-Betters in your town. They know that women are always happier as stay-at-home moms, that someone has to fix what kids eat at lunch, and that the EPA should have control of every body of water larger than a spilled glass.

I keep finding myself coming back to a passage from Thomas Jefferson that I put up on Tatler a long while ago. Here’s Jefferson:

“Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties: 1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depositary of the public interests. In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves. Call them, therefore, Liberals and Serviles, Jacobins and Ultras, Whigs and Tories, Republicans and Federalists, Aristocrats and Democrats, or by whatever name you please, they are the same parties still and pursue the same object. The last one of Aristocrats and Democrats is the true one expressing the essence of all.”
– Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Henry Lee, 1824)